Стримеры — Esoteric N-05XD

The N-05XD is the first network DAC and preamplifier from Esoteric, combining a streamer, an in-house discrete converter, an electronic volume control and a balanced headphone amplifier in one chassis. It was designed so that a compact system needs only a power amplifier, speakers or headphones beyond it. Deliveries began in September 2021, priced at USD 11,000 in the US, and the UK price is GBP 10,800.

Key specs that matter

Bandwidth extends from 5 Hz to 75 kHz at minus 3 dB. Noise is 105 dB down and distortion is 0.0015 percent at 1 kHz. Analogue outputs comprise one XLR pair with 220 ohm output impedance and up to 5.0 Vrms, one RCA pair with 60 ohm and up to 2.5 Vrms, plus an ES-Link pre-out pair. Digital inputs include one AES/EBU XLR at 110 ohm, two coaxial RCA at 75 ohm, two optical, USB type B, gigabit Ethernet and two USB ports for flash drives. Network and USB playback reach PCM at 384 kHz with 32 bits and DSD at 22.5 MHz, while the XLR digital input takes PCM up to 192 kHz and DSD 2.8 MHz in ES-Link or DoP form. The box measures 445 x 131 x 377 mm, weighs 13.8 kg and draws 38 W.

Engineering and use context

Conversion uses the Master Sound Discrete DAC, which avoids off-the-shelf converter chips. Each channel has 16 separate elements with their own clock drivers, logic, capacitors and resistors, fed by a 64-bit 512Fs delta-sigma modulator running in FPGA with separate algorithms for PCM and DSD. The volume stage is the Esoteric-QVCS attenuator, with four electronically controlled circuits handling left and right channels and positive and negative phases independently. A dedicated linear supply with large toroidal transformers, Schottky barrier diodes and super capacitors totalling 2,333,333 uF powers the network engine and audio stages. A BNC socket accepts a 10 MHz master clock. The headphone amplifier gives 1,500 mW into 32 ohm from its 4-pin XLR and 750 mW from the 6.3 mm jack, and handles loads from 16 to 600 ohm.

Pairing

Tidal, Qobuz and Spotify are built in, MQA is decoded and the unit is Roon Ready. Bluetooth 4.0 reception covers SBC and AAC as well as aptX, aptX HD, LDAC and LHDC. File playback handles FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, MP3 and AAC. With its own volume control the unit feeds a power amp straight from the XLR outputs, and ES-Link lets the N-05XD work with Esoteric transports.

Alternatives

The Esoteric N-01XD is the costlier network DAC in the range, priced at USD 20,000 and drawing on converter work from the Grandioso D1X.